Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith will be the keynote speaker at the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s 2024 annual dinner on Jan. 25 at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center. The annual dinner celebrates the past year’s economic and community development successes and provides an outlook into the future of the Des Moines region. The event will include a reception at 5 p.m., with the keynote address and dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Partnership will also present its annual report. Smith played 16 seasons in the NFL for three different teams: the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Commanders. In 2018, Smith suffered a serious leg injury that could have cost him his leg, but after 17 surgeries and rehab, he returned to the field in 2020 and earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year by the Associated Press, Sporting News and the Pro Football Writers of America. Since his retirement from the NFL, Smith has worked as an analyst on ESPN since 2021. Reservations for the event are accepted here.